Apple COO Tim Cook said we'd see the iPhone in Asia by the end of 2008, and see it we did in China and Hong Kong! Er... oops, he meant officially, didn't he? Well, then, Ars Technica (via Thompson) reports that SingTel might just make Singapore the first Asian nation to introduce Poppa Jobs' pocket universe-dent'er:

Be first to market, give it away for free, or be the finest in the space. Steven Frank, co-founder of award-winning Mac development house, Panic, says any one of these properties is a key to iPhone app success. Any two of these?

Macnn/iPodnn (via The Inquirer) reports that unlike CoreLocation, which gives access to the Google Maps-like location-based services, Apple's new iPhone SDK will be providing absolutely no access to iPod functionality or the onboard iTunes:

iLounge tells us that Apple has sent out a second note to would be $99-level iPhone SDK developers:

“We have many more requests than we can serve during this initial beta period, so we must limit the Program at this time. We plan to expand it during the beta period, and we will contact you regarding your enrollment status at the appropriate time. We appreciate your patience.”

GearLive reported Flash for the iPhone was immanent. Adobe retorted that it was all up to Steve Jobs. His Steveness resorted to telling investors that Flash desktop was too big, Flash Lite was too small, and they were missing a product that was juuuusssst right.

Well, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen hopes Apple's newly released SDK will help Adobe deliver that middle ground, with or without Jobs' blessing. Speaking to investors, Narayen said (via Apple Insider):

So, while 100% unsubstantiated rumor at the moment, The Financial Times (via Apple Insider) is reporting a "tip off" that says Apple is now considering an unlimited music program similar to Nokia's "Comes With Music".

Engadget honcho Ryan Block got his techie mitts on a pre-release version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, and here are the highlights (and lowlights!):

Exchange over Wi-Fi is not instantaneous (!). No contact search he could find. New button in Calendar don't do nothing for him yet. App Store error's out. Cisco branded VPN screen. Parental controls are good-to-go. Wi-Fi order can be specified in prefs. Calc has new widescreen scientific mode and icon. And his favorite new feature -- Multi-Select in Mail!

If you have an iPhone on firmware 1.1.4 you're just dying to jailbreak and/or unlock, or an iPod Touch you want to liberate (and add apps to before June!), and you trust software created by 13-year olds(!), then iJailBreak may just be what you're looking for.

If you've previously used iJailBreak, you can update automatically. If you're new to the pirate scene and don't mind violating the ULA and your warranty, then this implementation is about as simple as it can get. Ars Technica reports you just download, install, run, connect, and viola!

Apple pre-announces new iPhone firmware. Apple releases new fimware beta. New firmware beta leaks to pirates (JAR!). It's a familiar story (except for the Apple pre-announcing twist -- that almost never happens), and this time brings us details on the upcoming "Parental Controls" feature. (Apple Insider via iPhoneDevTeam)

A General Preference pane, iPhone's Parental Controls can be enabled or disabled, with individual options for allowing/disallowing "explicit" iPod content, and/or use of Safari, YouTube, iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, and App Store.

Developers want them their multitasking. They want them popping up, one after the other, like Agent Smith replicants in the Matrix sequels. What? Viruses incarnate from poorly conceived follow-up movies is a bad analogy?